Two more bodies found in East Cleveland

Updated July 23, 2013 at 12:42 PM;Posted July 20, 2013 at 10:14 PM

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Law enforcement and FBI stand at the back of a boarded-up home where bodies were found earlier in the day Saturday in East Cleveland. The house is on the northwest corner of the intersection of Shaw Ave. and Hayden Ave.
(Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two more dead bodies were found here Saturday, close to where the body of a woman was discovered the day before.

East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton said it is a believed that a 35-year-old arrested Friday night after a two-hour standoff in Cleveland on Chickasaw Avenue is responsible for the deaths. The man was in East Cleveland Jail Saturday night. He has not been charged.

A search of vacant lots and homes in the area of Ardenhall Avenue ended around 11 p.m. as authorities, led by East Cleveland police, try to determine if there are more dead bodies. It is to resume at noon today.

Norton said each woman was black. They were wrapped in four or five plastic bags. It is estimated all were killed within the last 10 days. He said identifications have not been made and the cause of death has not been determined in any instance.

The first woman was found in a carport Friday morning near the corner of Hayden and Shaw avenues. Norton described the woman as 5'3, 110 pounds.

The other two women were found Saturday afternoon.

One was discovered in a lot heavy with weeds about 150 feet from the carport. The mayor said that woman had a tattoo of a pink flower with green leaves on her left thigh.

The third woman was found in the basement of a home on East 139th Street, adjacent to the weedy lot. The house is vacant. Norton said it appeared the woman may have been thrown through a window into the basement.

The third woman was wearing a purple top, with a leopard pattern.

"I don't know if there are anymore bodies out there," Norton said. "It is all tying back to the same guy.

East Cleveland police, the FBI, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office and Cleveland police are involved in the investigation. The law enforcement personnel is being aided dogs trained to find cadavers.

People who live in the area said the arrested man has been seen in the neighborhood talking aggressively to women in the area.